David Rufus Allen was born in December 1859 in Haywood County, NC, the son of Jeremiah M. Allen (1828-1918) and Elizabeth Hyatt Allen (1829-1914). He was married to Mary Lou Norwood (1868-1946) about 1882. They had 8 children. He was a farmer and a preacher of the Gospel. He died on 21 January 1937 in Haywood County, NC at the age of 77. He was interred at Green Hill Cemetery.

LAST RITES FOR REV. D.R. ALLEN, 78, HELD
RETIRED BAPTIST PREACHER PASSED AWAY IN WEST CANTON THURSDAY
Funeral services were conducted Saturday afternoon at the Allens Creek Baptist Church, of which he was a member, for the Rev. D. Rufus Allen, 78, retired Baptist minister, who died at his home in West Canton on Thursday night, following an illness of several weeks. Rev. J.M. Woodard and the Rev. W.M. Pruitt of Hazelwood officiated. Burial was in Green Hill Cemetery.
The active pallbearers were the following nephews: K. Allen, Garland Allen, Jule Allen, Alney Mehaffey, Don Kelly and Cephus Medford.
The honorary pallbearers were: Dr. W.C. Johnson, Dr. J.R. Westmoreland, Dr. F.M. Davis, Ora Smathers, Rufus Kerley, H.A. Osborne, J.T. Bailey, M.L. Friday, Dock McElrath, and R.W. Kale, all of Canton; J.C. Welch, Robert Welch, William Snyder, Bud Love, Dr. J.F. Abel, Tom Lee, Grady Boyd, Jesse James, and Dr. J.R. McCracken, all of Waynesville.
Surviving Mr. Allen are his widow, Mary Lou, six sons, George, Neal, Herman, and D.L. Allen of Detroit, Michigan, and William and Lawson of Canton; two daughters, Mrs. G.C. (Iva) Summerrow of Hazelwood, and Mrs. R.G. (Hattie) Crawford, of High Point; two brothers, John H. Allen of Canton, and Jeremiah C. Allen of Waynesville, and two sisters, Mrs. Lilly Kelly and Mrs. Sarah Mehaffey, both of Waynesville.
(Waynesville Mountaineer, Waynesville, North Carolina, Thursday, 28 January 1937, p.1)